10Th Gifted World Literature Mrs. Walls/Miss. Drane

10th Gifted World Literature Mrs. Walls/Miss. Drane LITERATURE OF THE REVOLUTION FINAL PORTFOLIO

OVERVIEW:

During this Spring Semester you will complete a portfolio which will consist of a wide range of assignments. Overall, this culminating project will be representative of your growth and study of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Bille August’s Les Misérables, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.

I cannot emphasize enough that you need to use your time wisely in completing this Portfolio. If it would prove beneficial, create a schedule for yourself and a time line of when to finish each requirement. Do not let this project sneak up on you!

REQUIREMENT:

1. Research the times leading up to the French Revolution and the time in which Dickens is writing A Tale of Two Cities. Create a timeline of the revolution and compare what you find to Dickens’s time period. (10 points)

2. Research the times leading up to the Islamic Revolution, the end of the Shah’s regime, and the time in which Marjane Satrapi is writing her autobiography, Persepolis. Create a timeline of the revolution and compare what you find to Satrapi’s time period. (10 points)

3. Write an essay on A Tale of Two Cities answering one of the following prompts listed below. The essay should be 2-3 typed, double-spaced pages, as well as, written in Times New Roman 12pt. font and adhere to MLA standards. (25 points)

 An individual’s struggle toward understanding and awareness is the traditional subject for the novelist. In an essay, apply this statement to A Tale of Two Cities. Organize your essay according to the following plan: 1) Compare the hero as we see him in an early scene with the hero as we see him in a scene near the end of the novel. 2) Describe the techniques that the author uses to reveal the new understanding and awareness that the hero has achieved.

 From A Tale of Two Cities, select an important character who is a villain. Then, in a well- organized essay, analyze the nature of the character’s villainy and show how it enhances the meaning of the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

 Morally ambiguous characters---characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good---are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a novel or a play in which a morally a morally ambiguous character plays a pivotal role. Then write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his or her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

 In a novel by William Styron, a father tells his son that life “is a search for justice.” Choose a character from A Tale of Two Cities who responds in some significant way to justice or injustice. Then write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the character’s understanding of justice, the degree to which the character’s search for justice is successful, and the significance of this search for the work as a whole.

4. Create your own piece of political propaganda, a political button, concerning the political turmoil in A Tale of Two Cities and write a justification for your creation. Your button must be worn on the day that your research is due. (15 points)

5. Rhetorical Analysis of a piece of scholarly literary criticism on A Tale of Two Cities. (15 points)

6. Quilt Square (25 points): Theme is a universal literary technique authors use to covey meaning and complicate his/her audience’s notions about the texts and their characters. As we read A Tale of Two Cities, Persepolis, and Les Misérables you must find themes that are universal to all three texts. As Madame Defarge uses her knitting as an important tool of the Revolution you must artistically represent one theme that is located in all three texts on one single “patch” of construction paper. On your “patch” you must provide one quote from each text that illustrates your theme.

When the portfolio is due you must give a 3-5 minute presentation about your patch. Your presentation must include the significance of each quote, an explanation of how they link together to support your theme, and their function within the three texts as a whole.

Take pride in the work you create. Your patch needs to be neat and have an artistic element. Each of you must use the same size paper in order for our quilt to fit together neatly.

See Rubric below for this assignment’s requirements:

Quilt Square Rubric Expectation Points Possible Actual Points

1. Theme Patch (13 points overall) a. The theme is clearly stated. 2 b. Theme is artistically evident. 2 c. One textual quotation, from each text, is clearly and 2 neatly stated. d. Textual Evidence adheres to proper MLA standards 5 and documentation. e. Overall aesthetic quality and neatness. 2

2. Presentation (12 points overall) a. Presenter clearly explains each quote’s 7 significance, their link with one another, and their relation to the theme. b. Presentation is no less than 3 minutes but does not 5 surpass 5 minutes.

Overall Score: ______/ 25

PORTFOLIO DUE DATE: TBA

THE FINAL PRODUCT:

All of the assignments need to be neatly and chronologically placed in a binder or folder with three prong holes.